Pet immobilizer system

ABSTRACT

A pet immobilizing system utilizes a vest to located a bladder between a pet&#39;s legs. The bladder is rapidly inflated to hinder the pet&#39;s movement or to immobilize the pet. A remote electronic device sends a wireless signal to a wireless signal receiver coupled with the pressure source to activate inflation of the bladder. A pressure source may be canister or chemical inflation pressure source that produces an inflation fluid from the reaction of two or more chemicals, A vest may include a waist portion that extends around the pet&#39;s waist. A bladder compartment may be configured in the vest for retaining the bladder. A bladder compartment may have an opening to direct the inflation of the bladder out between the pet&#39;s legs. A remote electronic device may be a mobile phone that operates an App with an activation button to initiate inflation of the bladder.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisionalpatent application No. 63/132,076, filed on Dec. 30, 2020.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a pet immobilizer system that employs a bladderconfigured between the pet's rear legs, whereby inflation of the bladdereffectively hampers the pet's movement.

Background

There are many circumstances where a pet owner may want to restrict themovement of their pet. For example, a dog off leash in the yard maystart to dart into the road when an oncoming car is approaching. Inanother example, a dog at a dog park may become aggressive with anotherdog and it may be desired to quickly and effectively restrict the dog'smovement to deescalate the situation. If the dogs are already fightingrestricting the movement may quickly end the incident.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to a pet immobilizing system that utilizes avest to located a bladder between a pet's legs, such as between the rearlegs of a dog. The bladder may be coupled with the vest and to apressure source. A remote electronic device may send a wireless signalto a wireless signal receiver coupled with the pressure source toactivate inflation of the bladder. A canister or chemical inflationpressure source may then rapidly fill the bladder to restrict movementof the pet.

An exemplary vest may be donned on the pet to locate the uninflatedbladder between the pet's legs, or proximal to a space between theirlegs. A vest may comprise a waist portion that extends around the pet'swaist and may have a bladder compartment for receiving and retaining thebladder. An exemplary waist portion of a vest may have a first andsecond waist extensions that couple together via a waist connector toenable quick donning and removal. A waist connector may comprise astrap, buckle and/or hook and loop fasteners to allow a proper fit andto allow quick coupling and decoupling of the waist portion around thepet. An exemplary vest comprises a front portion that extends around aneck of the pet. A front portion may ensure proper location of thebladder with respect to the pet. A front portion may have a first frontportion and a second front portion that are coupled together by a frontconnector to form the front portion. As with the waist connector, afront connector may comprise a strap, buckle and/or hook and loopfastener for quick adjustment of the size and fit and for quick donningand removal.

An exemplary pressure source may be a canister of container ofpressurized fluid, such as a gas. The gas may be air, carbon dioxide andthe like. The pressure source may be coupled to the vest and the vestmay have a pocket or straps to retain the pressure source. A fluidconduit may extend from the pressure source to the bladder, such as ahose or tubing. A pressure canister may be configured proximal to thepet's back and the fluid conduit may extend down to the bladderconfigured on the underbelly of the pet, and preferably between thepet's back legs.

An exemplary vest may have a bladder compartment having a bladdercompartment closure that is released and opens when the bladderinflates. A bladder compartment closure may be held closed by hook andloop fastener, for example. The bladder compartment may retain a portionof the bladder and may direct the inflated bladder to expand between thepet's legs. An opening in the bladder compartment may be on the backside, wherein inflation of the bladder projects the bladder out backbetween the pet's legs.

An exemplary pressure source may be a chemical pressure source, whereinreaction of chemicals produces a gas. For example, many airbags have achemical inflation system that reacts sodium azide with potassiumnitrate (KNO3) to produce nitrogen gas. The chemical pressure source mayhave two or more chemicals separated and when the activation wirelesssignal is received by the controller, the chemicals may mix, such as byan activator that ruptures one or more of the chemical enclosures. Thechemicals may then mix and release a burst of gas.

A bladder may be reusable bladder or a disposable bladder. A bladder maybe an elastic material that stretches upon inflation or thin fabric thatis folded or otherwise compressed and then simply expands. An exemplarybladder may be a film of plastic, a coated fabric or a compositematerial.

An exemplary bladder may be configured to effectively hinder andrestrict movement of a pet, such as a dog, and the bladder may be sizedfor the size of the dog. Very small dogs may require a bladder with aninflated volume of about 1,500 cc, or have a diameter of about 14 cm,whereas a large dog may require a bladder with a volume of about 8,000cc or a diameter of about 25 cm. An exemplary bladder may have a volumewhen effectively filled by the pressure source of about 1,000 cc ormore, about 4,000 cc or more, about 6,000 cc or more, about 8,000 cc ormore, about 10,000 cc or more, about 14,000 cc or more any range betweenand including the volumes provided. Likewise, an exemplary bladder mayhave a diameter when effectively filled by the pressure source of about15 cm or more about 20 cm or more about, about 25 cm or more, about 30cm or more and any range between and including the diameter valuesprovided.

An exemplary remote electronic device may be a mobile phone and thephone may run an App, or program, to enable a wireless signal to betransmitted when desired. The controller may comprise a microprocessorthat recognizes the wireless signal and initiates inflation of thebladder. The wireless signal may be a short-range wireless signal, suchas a Bluetooth signal, for example. A short-range signal may have arange of 100 meters or more, about 150 meters or more, about 200 m ormore and any range between and including the ranges provided. Threeclasses of Bluetooth devices have the following performance: Class 1,transmitting at 100 mW with a range of 100 meters (328 feet); Class 2transmitting at 2.5 mW with a range of 10 meters (33 feet); and Class 3transmitting at 1 mW with a range of fewer than 10 meters. Class 1 maybe preferred for the pet immobilizer system.

Definitions

A pressure source, as used herein, is defined as a device that providesrapid inflation of the bladder, wherein the bladder is inflated toeffectively hamper the pets, movement within about 3 seconds or less andpreferably within 2 seconds or less and even more preferably within 1second or less.

The summary of the invention is provided as a general introduction tosome of the embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to belimiting. Additional example embodiments including variations andalternative configurations of the invention are provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a dog with an exemplary petimmobilizer system coupled around their waist and extending around theirneck and a bladder coupled to a pressure canister to inflate thebladder.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a dog shown in FIG. 1 with thebladder now inflated to immobilize the dog.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a dog with an exemplary petimmobilizer system coupled around their waist and extending around theirneck and chemical pressure source coupled with the bladder to inflatethe bladder.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a dog shown in FIG. 3 with thebladder now inflated to immobilize the dog.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views of the figures. The figures represent anillustration of some of the embodiments of the present invention and arenot to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in anymanner. Further, the figures are not necessarily to scale, some featuresmay be exaggerated to show details of particular components. Therefore,specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not tobe interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Also, use of “a” or “an” are employed to describeelements and components described herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the scope of the invention.This description should be read to include one or at least one and thesingular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meantotherwise.

Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention are describedherein and are illustrated in the accompanying figures. The embodimentsdescribed are only for purposes of illustrating the present inventionand should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention.Other embodiments of the invention, and certain modifications,combinations and improvements of the described embodiments, will occurto those skilled in the art and all such alternate embodiments,combinations, modifications, improvements are within the scope of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an exemplary pet immobilizer system 10 iscoupled to a dog 12, an example of a pet 11, via a vest 20 that has awaist portion 40 extending around the dog's waist 16 and a front portion21 extending around the neck 15 or front of the dog. The waist portionhas two waist extensions 42 that extend around the dog's waist and arecoupled together by a waist connector 43. The front portion 21 of thevest 20 has a first front portion 22 and second front portion 24 thatare coupled together by a front connector 23, such as a strap andbuckle. Note that the front portions and or waist extensions may becoupled together by hook and loop fasteners, as described herein. Thevest may be donned on the dog with the first and second front extensionsconnected and the waist extensions connected to provide a secure fit onthe dog.

A bladder 60 is configured in a bladder compartment 50 and located onthe underside of the waist 16 of the dog. The bladder compartment may beclosed by a bladder compartment closure 52 that releases when thebladder is inflated by pressure source 70, such as the pressure canister72. A fluid conduit 76 extends from the pressure source to the bladderto enable a rapid flow of fluid into the bladder for inflation. A valve82 may be controlled by a controller 90 that receives a signal from awireless signal receiver 88 to initiate flow of the fluid to thebladder. As shown in FIG. 2, a remote electronic device 94, such as amobile phone, may have a user interface 98, such as an App, with anactivation button 99, to initiate the inflation of the bladder. When auser interfaces with the activation button, the remote device may send awireless signal 92 via a wireless signal transmitter 96 to the wirelesssignal receiver 88. The controller 90 may then open the valve 82 toinflate the bladder. A pressure regulator 80 may be conjured to controlthe pressure of inflation of the bladder. As shown in FIG. 2, theinflated bladder is configured between the dog's back legs 18, 18′.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the pressure source 70 is a chemicalpressure source 78, made up of two or more chemicals 77, that produces aburst of gas upon the reaction of two or more chemicals. An activator 79may be configured to initiate the reaction of the two or more chemicalsand may pierce one chemical enclosure to enable the two or morechemicals to mix and react. As shown in FIG. 4, a remote electronicdevice 94, such as a mobile phone, may have a user interface 98, such asan App, with an activation button 99, to initiate the inflation of thebladder. When a user interfaces with the activation button, the remotedevice may send a wireless signal 92 via a wireless signal transmitter96 to the wireless signal receiver 88. The controller 90 may then openthe valve 82 to inflate the bladder. A pressure regulator 80 may beconfigured to control the pressure of inflation of the bladder. As shownin FIG. 4, the inflated bladder is configured between the dog's backlegs 18, 18′.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations and variations can be made in the presentinvention without departing from the scope of the invention. Specificembodiments, features and elements described herein may be modified,and/or combined in any suitable manner. Thus, it is intended that thepresent invention cover the modifications, combinations and variationsof this invention provided they come within the scope of the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pet immobilizing system comprising: a) a vestconfigured to be coupled to a pet, said vest comprising a waist portionconfigured to extend around a waist of said pet; wherein said waistportion comprises: a first waist extension; a second waist extension;and a waist connector configured to detachably attach the first waistextension and the second waist extension; b) a single bladder coupled tothe vest and configured on an underside of said pet's waist and betweenback legs of the pet when said vest is donned on said pet; c) a pressuresource fluidly coupled to the bladder; d) a wireless signal receiver; e)a valve configured between the pressure source and the bladder; f) acontroller coupled with the valve and the wireless signal receiver; g) aremote electronic device comprising: i) a user interface; and ii) awireless signal transmitter; wherein the wireless signal receiverreceives a wireless signal from the wireless signal transmitter toinitiate a flow of fluid from the pressure source to the bladder toinflate the bladder; wherein the bladder is configured to inflatebetween the pet's back legs to produce an inflated bladder having a sizethat effectively immobilizes the pet.
 2. The pet immobilizing system ofclaim 1, wherein the vest comprises a front extension that is configuredto extend around a neck of the pet.
 3. The pet immobilizing system ofclaim 1, where the front extension comprises a first front portion and asecond front portion and a front connector configured to detachablyattach the first neck portion and the second neck portion.
 4. The petimmobilizing system of claim 1, wherein the pressure source is apressure canister.
 5. The pet immobilizing system of claim 4, whereinthe canister detachably attachable to the vest.
 6. The pet immobilizingsystem of claim 4, wherein the canister is coupled to the bladder by afluid conduit.
 7. The pet immobilizing system of claim 6, wherein thecanister is configured proximal to a back of the pet.
 8. The petimmobilizing system of claim 4, further comprising a valve configuredbetween the pressure canister and the bladder, wherein the valve isopened to initiate a flow of gas from the pressure canister to thebladder when the wireless signal receiver receives a wireless signalfrom the wireless signal transmitter to initiate said flow of fluid fromthe pressure source to the bladder.
 9. The pet immobilizing system ofclaim 1, wherein the pressure source is a chemical pressure source,wherein the flow of fluid is a produced by a chemical reaction of two ormore chemicals of the chemical pressure source.
 10. The pet immobilizingsystem of claim 9, further comprising an activator that mixes the two ormore chemicals.
 11. The pet immobilizing system of claim 1, wherein theremote electronic device is a mobile phone.
 12. The pet immobilizingsystem of claim 11, wherein the user interface is a mobile App.
 13. Thepet immobilizing system of claim 1, wherein the wireless signal is ashort-range wireless signal.
 14. The pet immobilizing system of claim 1,wherein the bladder is configured in a bladder compartment.
 15. The petimmobilizing system of claim 14, wherein the bladder compartment isclosed by a bladder compartment closure that releases upon inflation ofthe bladder.
 16. The pet immobilizing system of claim 1, wherein thefluid is air.
 17. The pet immobilizing system of claim 1, wherein thebladder coupled to the vest is configured to be located on an undersideof said pet's waist and between back legs of the pet and wherein thebladder is configured to inflate between the pet's back legs toimmobilize the pet.
 18. The pet immobilizing system of claim 1, whereinvest configured to be coupled to a dog.